The mapping is already having a clinical impact with the discovery of a new hormonal pathway helping explain rare human medical conditions such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, says incoming KanGO director Laureate Professor Marilyn Renfree.

The kangaroo genome map follows on from mapping of the South American o'possum, the first marsupial to be sequenced, and the platypus, which was completed earlier this year.

Graves, of the Australian National University, says marsupial genomics are important in understanding and identifying the role of human genes because marsupials diverged from other mammal species about 148 million years ago.

Comparisons

Comparing genes that are present in marsupials and humans will help scientists understand how our genes work and evolved, she says.

Graves says kangaroo genomics has already helped identify the gene, SRY, that determines the sex of a baby and has overturned theories on how blood proteins, known as globins, formed.

The tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), was the model kangaroo used for the genome mapping.

Like the o'possum, there are about 20,000 genes in the kangaroo's genome, Graves says.

That makes it about the same size as the human genome, but the genes are arranged in a smaller number of larger chromosomes.

"Essentially it's the same houses on a street being rearranged somewhat," Graves says.

"In fact there are great chunks of the [human] genome sitting right there in the kangaroo genome."

Renfree, of University of Melbourne's Department of Zoology, says kangaroos are an important model for understanding human development and reproduction because they are born after a very short gestation and do much of their development in the pouch.

Cancer research

One of the areas she wants to further research is the marsupial's ability to enter embryonic diapause, which allows it to suspend development for up to 11 months.

"This has significant implications for cancer research," Renfree says, as the genes involved in embryonic diapause might be harnessed to switch off cancer.

Renfree also says the kangaroo genome "has and will help us understand" why the endangered Tasmanian Devil is being wiped out by the deadly Devil Facial Tumour Disease.

The kangaroo genome project almost foundered in 2004 due to a lack of funding.

The NIH had offered the Australian researchers A$6 million to fund the research, but only if Australian funders matched that.

At the last moment the Victorian state government increased its commitment to the project from A$1.5 million to A$4.5 million, making up the funding shortfall.